


Eg a Lif

by SkyEverett



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Angst, Family Feels, Gen, Hopeful Ending, Insecurity, Loneliness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-01
Updated: 2015-07-01
Packaged: 2018-04-07 04:22:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4249134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkyEverett/pseuds/SkyEverett
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Iceland has always had a cool exterior and an internal flame. He lives with the Nordics, but he can't help but feel like a 5th wheel. He never claims to be lonely, but the truth is...he's one of the loneliest countries in the world. Based on the eurovision song "Eg a Lif" (I'm Alive).</p>
            </blockquote>





	Eg a Lif

    “Say it.”  
  
    “No.”  
  
    “Say it.”  
  
    “No!”  
  
    “Big brother.  Big brother.  Big brother.  Big brother—”  
  
     “SHUT UP!” screamed Iceland, unable to take it any longer.  The Nordics were poking fun at him _again_ , and this time, Iceland was putting his foot down.  
  
     “Hey, Icey, whatsamatter?” whined Mr. Puffin, who had just been awakened by Iceland’s sudden outburst.  “Geez, ya can’t get any f*ck*ng sleep around here these days…”  
  
     But Iceland didn’t listen.  Instead he pushed past Norway and out the door.    
  
     “Whoa, Norge,” whistled Denmark.  “You really p*ss*d him off.  I wonder what got him so riled up this time?”  
  
    “I don’t understand,” said Finland, “why he has to get so worked up.”  
  
    “W’re teasin’ th’ p’r guy,” replied Sweden.  “H’s s’nsit’ve.”  
  
    “I don’t mean to give him a hard time,” said Norway.  “I just thought he seemed alone and needed some sort of family.  Is that wrong?”

* * *

    Iceland wasted no time boarding a plane back to his island.  He was bright red in the face like he had drank too much of Denmark’s beer, but in truth he was quivering in embarrassment and anger.  Norway treated the topic of family like it was a GAME.  Did he know anything?  Or was Iceland only there for him to tease?  
  
_Ding!  Ding!_  
  
    Iceland sighed and looked at his phone.  There were two text messages, and thankfully they were not from any of the Nordics.  
  
_Здравствуйте, Исландия!_  
_I noticed you looked very upset when you left.  I was at the airport too._  
_After you have calmed down, would you like to talk it over with me?_  
_I have vodka ^^_  
_-Россия_  
  
    Iceland deleted that without a second thought.  Russia was planning something, he just _knew_ it.  All that fake kindness and vodka…he was baiting him somehow, and Iceland wasn’t planning on becoming a Soviet state any time soon.  
  
_嗨，冰岛。_  
_I haven’t heard from you in a while._  
_Why don’t you and I meet up sometime?  I have this new brand of licorice I want you to try._  
_-香港_  
  
    With a little more hesitancy, Iceland deleted that one too.  Hong Kong was his good friend, but he had heard stories about Norway far too many times.  Iceland didn’t want to burden him with more trouble about his distant—EXTREMELY distant—relative.  Then he sat back and tried to make the best of his short ride home.  
  
  
_Lagði ég af stað í það langa ferðalag_  
_ég áfram gekk í villu eirðarlaus_  
_Hugsaði ekki um neitt, ekki fram á næsta dag_  
_Einveru og friðsemdina kaus_  
  
  
    What pained Iceland about his landscape is that there were no forests, nothing for him to disappear into.  He was bare, and while a few clusters of trees stood out in the horizon, there just wasn’t enough.  It made him feel more alone than usual.  
  
    But then again, Iceland was self-sufficient and one of the best energy-savers in the world.  He was probably set for a few centuries, and aside from his financial problems, he didn’t need anyone’s help.  The other Nordics could go off and do whatever they wanted.  Iceland was practically home-free; he didn’t really need anything or anyone.  
  
  
_Ég á líf, ég á líf, yfir erfiðleika svíf_  
_Ég á líf, ég á líf vegna þín_  
_Þegar móti mér blæs, yfir fjöllin há ég klíf_  
_Ég á líf, ég á líf, ég á líf_  
  
  
    Spring green faded to earthy brown as Iceland made his way up towards the top of one of his mountains and to the quickly setting sun.  He never let _anyone_ up here, not even Mr. Puffin.  This was the only place that Iceland thought didn’t need any forestry or other changes.  Here he had a vast view of the sky, and when he was little he believed he could touch the clouds.  Sometimes the clouds gathered at his feet up here, and he would be surrounded in white as the sky put on a show for him without the distractions from below.  Every night and day the sky was different.  Whether it gave him sunny skies, thunderstorms, fiery sunsets, or the breathtaking Aurora Borealis, Iceland still loved it.  He was convinced that every day, it was giving him a message, though he never tried to interpret it.  
  
  
_Ég skildi ekki ástina sem öllu hreyfir við_  
_þorði ekki að faðma og vera til_  
_Fannst sem ætti ekki skilið að opna huga minn_  
_Og hleypa bjartri ástinni þar inn_  
  
  
    Tonight, the clouds gathered in the center of the sky and the sun was setting in the west, bathing the blue horizon in golden fire.  Iceland turned his attention the ocean on his right and spotted a fisherman’s boat.  It was floating along, without any sense of direction, and the tiny fisherman was throwing nets into the ocean’s depths.  From the man’s sluggish movements, Iceland could tell that he wanted more than anything to not be where he was in that instant.  In a way, Iceland felt the same.  He didn’t want to be lonely—or sensitive, for that matter, but he was kind of stuck that way, and there was nothing he could do to change that.  It was just who he was.  
  
    Something cold touched his cheek and ran down it.  Iceland raised his hand towards the sky and watched the clouds above grow dark.  Another drop of water fell into his hand.  “Huh.  It’s raining.”  
  
  
_Ég á líf, ég á líf, yfir erfiðleika svíf_  
_Ég á líf, ég á líf vegna þín_  
_Þegar móti mér blæs, yfir fjöllin há ég klíf_  
_Ég á líf, ég á líf, vegna þín_  
  
  
    Iceland made no effort to shield himself from the rain and instead looked straight up and into it.  Even though he heard thunder, it was nothing more than a harmless drizzle, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.  
  
    Some of the raindrops on his face were warm.  
  
  
_Og ég trúi því_  
_Já, ég trúi því_  
_Kannski opnast fagrar gáttir himins_  
_Yfir flæðir fegursta ástin_  
_Hún umvefur mig alein_  
  
  
    Suddenly Iceland lost his cool exterior and screamed, burying his face in his hands.  He had absolutely _no one_ to help him, he never did; the Nordics would never understand the pain of being an island like he did, they were never alone.  For a few centuries, he had been wandering over his uninhabited plains with only this place for comfort and solace.  He had sometimes wondered if he was the only one in the world.  They had never felt that.  They simply fit together.  Norway had Denmark, Sweden had Finland, and Iceland was just a fifth wheel whose best friend lived on the opposite end of the world.    
  
    As Iceland cried, the sun disappeared beneath the horizon and the clouds—and the rain along with them—cleared, revealing a dark blue sky full of stars.  Iceland wiped his eyes and looked around, trying to pull himself together.  It was hard; he hadn’t cried like that in a _really_ long time.  
  
    _“Vitleysa,”_ he whispered as another tear slid out of his eye.  He frantically tried to wipe it away.  “You’ve got to stay strong, pull it together…”  
     
    _“Li…litli bróðir?”_  
  
    Iceland froze.  Norway.  What was he doing here?  Iceland didn’t want Norway to see him, not like this…  
  
    “Iceland…I didn’t mean to hurt you.  If you really were hurting inside, you could have told me and I would have stopped.”  
  
    “Yeah, _kammerat,_ we shouldn’t have been so careless.  If we go too far, you can tell us.  It’s not like we’ll ignore you or get mad.”  Denmark’s voice was incredibly soothing compared to his usual drawl.  He sounded _sincere,_ something Iceland never expected from the Dane.  
  
    “You don’t have to be lonely all the time, _Islanti,”_ added Finland.  “We want you to be part of our crazy Nordic family.  Look, Hanatamago thinks so too.”  Iceland heard the dog give a few happy yips.  
  
    “W’re s’rry tha’ we p’shed ya.  W’ll be m’re c’reful.  W’ j’st miss ya.”  Sweden’s voice was gruff, but Iceland could hear the emotion behind it.  He was one of the few who could.  
  
    “Please understand, _bróðir,”_ pleaded Norway.  “We’re not exactly the Nordic Family without you.”  
  
_Ég á líf, ég á líf, yfir erfiðleika svíf_  
_Ég á líf, ég á líf vegna þín_  
_Þegar móti mér blæs, yfir fjöllin há ég klíf_  
_Ég á líf, ég á líf vegna þín_  
  
    Iceland turned around and barely caught a glimpse of them standing there before tears blurred his vision and he ran into their arms.  Norway caught him first, and the other three crowded around them in a big Iceland sandwich.  
  
    And the green and purple Lights of the North blazed across the sky.  They surrounded the five brothers and wrapped them in promises of peace, happiness and acceptance.  There were lots of “oohs” and “aahs” as the Nordics looked up, but Iceland still clung to Norway—Norway, the first family he ever had.  But when he looked up and saw the Aurora Borealis dancing around them, he finally got the message, the one the sky had been trying to tell him.  
  
  
_Ég á líf, ég á líf, ég á líf…_  
  
  
    Takk, min storebror.

**Author's Note:**

> First of all, you may say that at first Iceland was all “oh, I’m free, I don’t need anyone.” But then he started to accept that he was alone, and then finally started to realize it. Also, Norway is speaking Icelandic when he calls Iceland “brother.” At the end, Iceland is speaking in Norwegian. The italics are just there because he said it so softly that only he could hear it…because we know Iceland. He’s stubborn to the end.


End file.
